THE DISTRIBUTION OF MONEY AND PRICES IN SEARCH EQUILIBRIUM

This article considers a search-theoretic model of monetary exchange. Agents bargain over both the amount of money and the quantity of goods to be exchanged in bilateral meetings, determining endogenously the distributions of money and of prices. I show that money is neutral if changes in the money supply are accomplished via proportional transfers. However, within the class of lump-sum transfers, an increase of the rate of monetary expansion tends to decrease the dispersion of wealth and prices and to improve welfare when inflation is low; but when inflation is high enough, the opposite effects occur. Copyright 2006 by the Economics Department Of The University Of Pennsylvania And Osaka University Institute Of Social And Economic Research Association.